18 July 2015

PROMPT:  This morning, I heard…

Lindsey Lane, writer/speaker/teacher

Tim, 56, sits at the breakfast table eating cereal and drinking coffee.  Miranda, 15, in her p.j.’s enters.  She yawns and sits at the table.
TIM
Late night?
MIRANDA
Not really.
Tim eats.
TIM
Would you like another chance to answer that question?
MIRANDA
(defensive)
Why?
TIM
Just as the sun was about to come up, I woke up.  I heard a window down the hall open.  They make a loud scraping noise.  I heard some scrambling, some banging, some crashing.
MIRANDA
It wasn’t me!
TIM
I got up a few minutes later and went out the back door and around to the side yard.
MIRANDA
So what!?
TIM
The screen was off your window.
MIRANDA
I didn’t do it!
TIM
There were tracks in the wet grass leading from the street to your window.
Miranda glares at Tim.
MIRANDA
Are you spying on me?!
TIM
I’m a good detective Miranda, and you are not a good sneak.
MIRANDA
I wasn’t sneaking!
TIM
Also, you are not the first young lady to sneak out in the middle of the night.  I snuck out myself when I was your age.
MIRANDA
I didn’t sneak out!
TIM
You wouldn’t be the first young lady who lived here dropped off by the police with a citation in their pocket.
MIRANDA
But... I...
TIM
And it’s dangerous out there in the middle of the night for a young lady without good fighting skills.
MIRANDA
I got great skills!
TIM
I have no doubt that you could handle yourself if some other one hundred and fifteen pound...
MIRANDA
I weight one hundred and twelve!
TIM
Whatever.  I’m sure you can handle yourself just fine.  I doubt you could deal with a man who weighs nearly two hundred pounds and sneaks up on you from behind.  He would drop you like a sack of kittens off a bridge.
MIRANDA
I... He...
Silence.
MIRANDA
Are you going to punish me?
TIM
Yes.  Same punishment as skipping school.
MIRANDA
(head down)
Yes, sir.
Miranda takes her phone out of her pajama pocket and sets it on the table.
TIM
Thank you.  You can have this back tomorrow morning.
Silence.
TIM
I may be old, but I remember what it was like to be fifteen.  You need to work on your sneaking skills.  But I will still catch you.  Also, you are a very poor liar.  By fifteen, if you can’t tell a good lie, it’s better to just learn to tell the truth and face the consequences.
MIRANDA
Yes, sir.... Can I go?
TIM
I imagine you need some sleep.
MIRANDA
Yes, sir.
Miranda turns and starts off.
TIM
And Miranda...
MIRANDA
What?
TIM
I love you.
Miranda smiles weakly and exits.
End of play.